The Road to Omnichannel Success: The Effect of Technological, Organizational and Environmental Factors on the Intention to Adopt Omnichannel Retailing Strategy

Abstract

Over the last decade, technology and constant digitalization has drastically changed consumer behavior, market development, and business-consumer interaction. One of the key developments is the offering of multiple channels to satisfy consumer preferences. As consumer expectations increase, especially for user experience, businesses are pressured to provide a seamless, interchangeable experience of the channels they offer. However, while there are many theoretical benefits to omnichannel adoption, businesses are still slow to adopt. This paper studies the factors of adoption of omnichannel in the Chinese hypermarket industry.

This qualitative study aims to understand the difficulties and the contextual influences on the adoption of omnichannel via the technology, organization, and environment (TOE) framework. The resultant understandings from this study provides insights into Chinese companies embarking on omnichannel adoption, concluding that the following key factors affect the adoption of omnichannel in China: four significant factors: (1) perceived benefits, (2) organizational readiness, (3) consumer habits and expectations, and (4) financial resources.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Choon Ling SIA (Supervisor)